Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 185 I'm not greedy, I'm easy to please.
"Holding a Shehuo festival north of the Great Wall? Does his family even have Shehuo festivals? Why would they hold one?"

After reading Yun Ce's invitation, Cao Kun couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Wow, he actually hunted two elephant-boars and invited me to taste their meat? Uncle, do you think he can really hunt such giant beasts as elephant-boars?"

The old steward Zheng Tianshou, who was sitting opposite Cao Kun reading a book, looked up at Cao Kun, who was sitting and standing improperly, and thought for a moment before saying, "He must have captured a young beast."

"I think so too. Even if an adult beast stood there and let him kill it, he probably wouldn't be able to."

Zheng Tianshou ignored Cao Kun's nonsense and waved the book in his hand, saying, "Don't underestimate the Yun family. It's a family with a very deep foundation. Not to mention anything else, just this book, 'The Art of War,' is something that most people have never even heard of, let alone possess."

In front of Zheng Tianshou, Cao Kun put away all his claws and acted like a true playboy. When he heard Zheng Tianshou praising Yun Ce, he couldn't help but say, "Since the Yun family is so powerful, how come our people haven't found anything about it? They only know that Yun Ce came from the wilderness and is a savage."

Zheng Tianshou reluctantly put down the book in his hand and said to Cao Kun, "Let me tell you this: this 'Art of War' is a complete set of thirteen chapters, from the 'Initial Planning' chapter to the 'Using Spies' chapter. It should be the original text, not some so-called 'Thirteen Chapters of Sun Tzu' pieced together by some busybodies."

The Yun family is called the Yun family because of Yun Ce, but perhaps the Yun family wasn't originally called the Yun family.

Cao Kun said thoughtfully, "Uncle, I understand now. Yun Ce may have enemies who are still alive, or his reputation may have been ruined, so he has to use a new name."

Haha, coming from Yunzhou, of course it has to be surnamed Yun.

Although he was acting suspiciously, he was quite sincere in trying to curry favor with our family, sending these six books as a gift. Should I bring him some more food and provisions?

I heard that he and his wife are now only eating one pound of grain a day, which is quite pitiful.

Since he's going all out to hold a folk festival, it seems he just wants to collect more gifts. As his sworn brother, I should at least help him put on a show and invite more people over.

However, when he talked about the pig-like beast, he did so evasively, it didn't seem like he was trying to trick me. Uncle, what do you think?

Zheng Tianshou pondered for a moment and said, "What Yun Ce said makes a lot of sense. Eleven elephant-boar beasts are crammed into an area that is fifty miles deep and no more than twenty miles wide. Even though food is scarce, they are unwilling to leave. There is indeed a problem. I just don't know if this problem is a good thing or a bad thing."

Yun Ce's frank words to you may well contain the intention of using your strength to investigate the secrets of the Qingshui River eddy.

Overall, it's not a big deal; you can think about it yourself.

Cao Kun licked his lips and said to Zheng Tianshou, "Uncle, when I come back this time, I'll ask you for the recipe for Yun's oil-splashed noodles and have the family cook make it for you. To be honest, I never thought that such a coarse food could make me crave it so much."

Oh, and his family's pool, especially the way the maidservant stretched her hand across his buttocks—it was truly ecstatic.

"Yes, go there and relax for three days. You've been pushing yourself too hard lately. It's too early to start the fight with your brothers. In these kinds of things, whoever strikes first will be at a disadvantage. Wait until they've exhausted all their options before you take action, and then no one will have anything to say about you."

"Uncle, how come my dad is so prolific? Just yesterday, he gave birth to a younger brother and a younger sister for me. If this continues, will there be anything left for me when the family business comes into my hands?"

“The head of the family is in good health and full of energy. As his son, you should write a letter to congratulate him, not complain.”

Cao Kun jumped around in the room in frustration, then said to Zheng Tianshou, "So annoying, so annoying! I'll take two Xintianyou birds to Jingkou Pass first. Uncle, you can have the new guards my father sent ride horses to Jingkou Pass."

Zheng Tianshou frowned and said, "You don't need to waste these people on elephants and pigs. That's not appropriate."

Cao Kun grinned and said, "If they were proper guards, I would naturally treat them as comrades. But these people have nothing better to do than secretly pass on information from here to my father and uncle. This is simply intolerable."

Seeing Cao Kun leave, Zheng Tianshou couldn't help but sigh. The eldest young master had been in a really bad mood these past few days. Since his advice was ignored, he would have to clean up the mess the eldest young master was about to make.

Even after removing the internal organs and leaving an empty shell, an adult elephant pig still weighs 60,000 jin (30,000 kg). After removing the skin, which is a foot thick, there are still 40,000 jin (20,000 kg) of meat remaining.

Just as Yun Ce had predicted, this giant beast had little fat in its body and its muscle fibers were too coarse, making it very difficult to cook.

Yun Ce then threw large chunks of elephant meat into the two newly made large millstones, grinding the fresh meat into minced meat, and then drying the minced meat to make fluffy meat powder. This kind of elephant meat is suitable for both adults and children.

Logically, this thing should be dried into jerky before being put into the millstone. Unfortunately, after it is dried, it becomes as hard as iron, and when struck together, it makes a metallic sound. It can even lift the millstone.

The little elephant-pig, on the other hand, had a lot of fat in its body. After cutting open its belly, it was almost entirely filled with fat and the meat was very tender. It was a great ingredient for frying, stir-frying, or braising.

Nowadays, everyone in the camp looks pale and thin, and it's obvious that they are severely deficient in fat intake.

Cao Kun flew over from Yujin Pass early in the morning. After arriving, he did not go to Yun Clan Manor to rest, but went directly to Yun Ce, who was rendering lard.

Yun Ce had just scooped a large spoonful of pork cracklings from the pot when he saw Cao Kun arrive. He placed the cracklings on a plate, sprinkled some green salt on them, and handed them to Cao Kun while they were still hot.

"What is this? Waste from frying?" "In this world, things are only divided into two categories: delicious and not delicious. There is no distinction between high and low, noble and base. To be honest, even if you were fried in oil, you might not taste better than those slaves."

"What?"

"Your flesh is not as firm as theirs."

"Hmm, that makes sense. When we have some free time, let's grab a pampered nobleman and a hard-working slave, and put them both in the oil cauldron to try it out."

As Cao Kun spoke, he picked up a piece of fried pork crackling and put it in his mouth. In a very short time, he ate a whole plate of fried pork crackling and kept drinking water because he was so sick of it.

"I never imagined that you would grind pork that you can't eat into a millstone and turn it into minced meat, eventually turning it into meat powder. Don't feed this to the slaves; it's too wasteful for them. I'll trade you grain and fodder. This is top-quality military rations. I don't believe you didn't notice?"

"So what if you can see it? When a person is starving to death, even dragon liver and phoenix marrow are nothing more than food to fill their stomach."

"What a waste!"

Cao Kun looked around and found that Yun's slaves were everywhere, none of them were idle. These slaves were obviously well taken care of by Yun Ce. Although they were thin, they were in good spirits. There were just too many women and children.

Since Yun Ce was so good at supporting people and enjoyed supporting people so much, Cao Kun felt that as Yun Ce's brother who had risked his life for him, he had an obligation to help his brother again and send more women and children to his side.

Compared to Cao Kun's feigned sincerity, Yun Ce was far more genuine.

Since Cao Kun mentioned military rations, Yun Ce found some grass ration powder, stir-fried it in a large pot with meat powder until golden brown, and added some lard, salt, and sweet root powder.

Before the mixture could cool down, it was placed in a mold, covered, and squeezed hard. After a short while, dark green lumps were poured out of the mold.

Yun Ce handed Cao Kun a piece of paper and said, "One piece is enough to support the soldiers' needs for one day."

Cao Kun held it in his hand and weighed it in his hand, saying, "It's only about half a pound. Is that really enough to fill me up?"

After speaking, he saw his guards rushing over on Thunder Smoke Beasts in a hurry. Knowing that they hadn't had time to eat breakfast, he asked Cao Ling to bring them the blocky substance that Yun Ce had just produced, stating that it was their rations for the day.

"The taste may not be the best, but you shouldn't be so picky in the army. Think about it, if each cavalryman carries a few dozen of these, they can gallop thousands of miles without needing any military supplies. Do you think it's expensive to sell one for twenty catties of grain?"

Cao Kun looked at Yun Ce and laughed, pointing at him repeatedly and saying, "A handful of meat powder, a handful of fodder, a little salt and oil—if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I really wouldn't believe that you could be so ruthless in your business dealings."

Yun Ce frowned and asked, "Is it dark?"

Cao Kun immediately replied, "It's pitch black, you can't see your hand in front of your face."

Yun Ce continued, "When I sold this batch of goods, I also sold you the formula. Do you still think this place is pitch black?"

Cao Kun jumped up and down, pounding his chest, and said, "I just checked, there's nothing special about it. Even someone like me who never cooks can easily make this."

Yun Ce grabbed a piece of warm oil residue, popped it into his mouth, and laughed, "Before I made this, did this thing even exist in the world?"

One sentence silenced Cao Kun. He looked at Yun Ce and asked, "Why do you always have the ability to turn the rotten into the miraculous?"

"Would you trade one pound of military rations for twenty pounds of provisions?"

"Change, change, change, but this is the only batch. I'll handle the rest myself. Doing business with you is unethical."

Having obtained grain from Cao Kun, Yun Ce no longer pretended to be busy with the cooking.

The two climbed a small hill and sat down on the folding stools brought by the Yun family guards. Although Cao Kun really wanted to examine the lightweight seat, considering that it might be another scheme by Yun Ce, he forcibly restrained himself and said to Yun Ce, "How about I handle the matter of the elephant pig? You can pretend you don't know anything."

Yun Ce nodded and said, "No problem, but I need two adult elephant-boar carcasses and one juvenile elephant-boar carcass."

Cao Kun asked doubtfully, "Don't you want the things in Huishui Bay?"

Yun Ce shook his head firmly and said, "No, I only want the elephant pig carcasses. If you feel uncomfortable with that, give me all the elephant pig carcasses, and I will be satisfied."

　I was supposed to finish before 4 o'clock, but I was forced to go see the pretty girl. When I got there, she grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go, and I couldn't struggle... Later, she drew a vial of blood from me, saying she needed it to check my annualized blood sugar... That's how time was wasted.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)